Articles | Volume 16, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1483-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-1483-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
11 Sep 2025
Research article |
| 11 Sep 2025
| 11 Sep 2025
Simple physics-based adjustments reconcile the results of Eulerian and Lagrangian techniques for moisture tracking in atmospheric rivers
Alfredo Crespo-Otero
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
CRETUS, Nonlinear Physics Group, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Damián Insua-Costa
Hydro-Climate Extremes Lab (H-Cel), Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
Emilio Hernández-García
Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (IFISC), CSIC-UIB, Campus Universitat de les Illes Balears, 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Cristóbal López
Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (IFISC), CSIC-UIB, Campus Universitat de les Illes Balears, 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Gonzalo Míguez-Macho
CRETUS, Nonlinear Physics Group, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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Short summary
We evaluated two Lagrangian moisture tracking tools for computing moisture sources in precipitation events related to atmospheric rivers (ARs) and compared them against the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with water vapor tracers. Our results show that both tools (the Sodemann et al., 2008, and Dirmeyer and Brubaker, 1999, methodologies) present a systematic underestimation of remote sources. Implementing simple physics-based changes substantially improved both methods, narrowing the disparities among all approaches.
We evaluated two Lagrangian moisture tracking tools for computing moisture sources in...
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